Angels In The Attic
by Scrotie McBoogerBalls
Summary: Jace, and Clary try and cope with drastic changes in their lives when the father becomes suddenly violent. Their mother flees with them to their rich grandparents' in which they are forced to live in only one room, with only an attic to play in. Years pass while they live in the attic, and they eventually must find a way to escape. Based off Flowers In The Attic. AU, OOC, Incest
1. I From Light To Dark

**Okay I wanted to do something different. I've had this idea in my head for like... ever. And I think if we all give it a chance it could work. I like to write a lot, but I have NEVER written fanfiction. And since this would be my first one, I thought I'd try and base it off something. ****I loved CC's idea on making Jace and Clary brother and sister. I was sooooo upset they couldn't be together during that time, but I still LOVED the idea. I've also been wondering if she was trying to accomplish something else with that idea that no one else saw. The angst and tension between the two during their time as siblings was great, so I decided to experiment with that idea. This story is based off another Series called 'The Dollanganger Series' Anyone read 'Flowers In The Attic'? Well that's the idea I'm basing this off of. And I am hoping to accomplish this. That was a very dark and disturbing book, but I loved it, it was one of my favorites. So I'm going to play this in closely. So I hope every likes it, check it out and see...**

**Now even though I've started a story, I can't promise continuous updates. I wish I could, but I can't. But I'll do my best to try! **

**Rated M: For Rape, Strong Sexual Content, and Incest (you've been warned)  
AU  
Somewhat OOC**

**Full Summary: **_Jace and Clary are siblings, and have stayed by each other's side since diapers. Soon they'll have no choice when their life takes an unexpected turn. Their mother is killed, in a situation not understandable, and their father begins to act strange. It isn't long before they're locked away in a tiny room in a house they're unfamiliar with. Jace and Clary become the new parents of their younger twin siblings as their father becomes more and more distant and abusiv. Locked away in a room from the world where the only place it leads is into the attic, their only escape from their prison. Will they ever get out? And what is going on with their father? There is a big mystery as to how or why their mother was killed, and why they have been locked away from the world. They need to escape to find out everything... but how?_**  
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Angels In The Attic

I. From Light To Dark…

I remember the times when I was young and naïve. Too naïve to even understand that our happy little life could ever be altered. I will never forget the times when we were happy in our own little world. No one could harm us, or even touch us. We were the Morgenstern Family. A family well known in Idris, the home of our people, the Nephilim.

We called ordinary humans 'Mundanes' our kind always felt the name suited them quite well. We aren't too different from them, though. We play like mundane children, laugh and grow. We love each other, much the same as any mundane family. The difference is that our lives consist of destroying demons, and sometimes even the occasional vampires, or werewolves- but only if they broke the law. For the most part we kept peace between ourselves, and the Downworlder- that's what we called them.

My brother, Jonathan was known for being the best of us for his age. He was only 13, and already the inquisitor was honoring him. Our father never really liked the Clave, our Shadowhunting Government. He always preached to us about how corrupt it was and that someone needed to change it. We always listened carefully, or pretended to. Our mom would just smile and nod. Then when father was out of sight, my brother would always say;

"He doesn't understand…"

"Understand what?" I asked him.

"Clary, _men_ are corrupt. We are naturally flawed as humans. Anything ran by humans will be corrupt." He chuckled as if it should've been something I already knew. Jace was always really smart. I started that nickname, Jace.

When I was little I couldn't pronounce the name Jonathan. And I know that you are thinking that I could've just called him Jon, right? Well you're probably right, but one day mom was going over how to spell with him. And I remember her asking him what his first two initials are…

"J. C." he told her.

"Ja-cey!" I began to shout what he said. Why? I don't know, I was only a year old, but from that moment on that name stuck with us.

My name, Clary?  
Well that's just short for Clarissa. It's faster and easier to say, the only one in my life who didn't call me by my nickname was father. I never truly understood why. To tell you the truth I always felt like he favored Jace. But it's okay, it never really bothered me. Mom was always good to both of us. And Jace was more of a momma's boy than he pretended.

I couldn't wait to get my chance with hunting once I turned thirteen I would be out there with my brother, mother, and father. But unfortunately for me, I would never get that chance.

My name is Clarissa Fray, no longer Morgenstern, or Garroway. My brother and I despise the name Morgenstern now, and I wanted to keep Garroway, but we had no choice but to disappear. Believe it or not; but my world becomes more scary than it already is. This is our story…


	2. II New Arrivals

Angels In The Attic

II. New Arrivals

I'm surprised I can still remember this summer. It feels so long ago. I was eight when my life slowly began to change. That day Jace and I were playing with Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, in our favorite tree.

"We should build a clubhouse." Isabelle suggested, as she swung on a branch.

"Only so you two can put all kinds of girlie things in it?" Jace asked her. "I don't think so!" Jace acted smart even when he was ten. He leapt from branch to branch like it was nothing. He always looked like a squirrel, like he was meant to move like that. I always wondered how he could do it. I tried to copy his movements, but it only ended with me having scraped knees and elbows.

"Clary…" Jace sighed as he jumped down to my branch elegantly and helped me up. "How many times must I tell you, that you simply just can't be anyone but yourself."

"Sometimes you can learn to do things like others." I argued

"Not always." He said letting go of my hand.

"Yea-huh!" I mused.

"Clary, stop being immature."

"I kind of like the idea of a clubhouse." Alec chimed in. Jace looked up at him and from our branch and sighed.

"I'll think about it." He said, before glancing down at his watch. His face contorted into fright as he realized the time.

"Clary we have to go home! We're suppose to be home in time for dinner!" He jumped down to the ground and turned to help me.

"You guys are leaving now?" Isabelle's voice was full of hurt, as she watched me, her best friend be dragged away by my big brother.

"Sorry Izzy, but unlike your parents, our mom and dad will snap a whip if we're late!" Jace shouted back at her, as he held onto my hand tightly while running in the direction of home.

"You better think about the clubhouse idea!" She shouted back.

"Maybe!" Was all Jace said as he pulled me faster.

"Jace slow down! I'm not as fast as you!" He stopped abruptly, causing me to slam right into his back.

"I'm sorry Clary." He said softly.

Jace acted tough and smart all the time, but when it came to me, he was loving and protective. I could always count on him to be by my side no matter what, and it's like that till this very day!

We arrived home huffing and heaving from running so fast. Father was strict about us getting home on time, and being late wasn't worth the spankings.

We were both bent over, with our palms on our knees trying to catch our breath.

"What in the name of the Angel, have you two been doing?" Our mother asked with pure curiosity written all over her face.

"We… were…" Jace spoke, still trying to catch his breath. "Trying not to be… late."

"Ohh." Mom smiled warmly. "Well, go wash up and get to the table, and be quick about it! I have news to share with the two of you!"

We did what she said; neither of us taking notice to the fact that father wasn't home yet. We both fought over the faucet in the bathroom like the children we were, and both found our seats at the dinner table.

"Mommy, where's dad?" I asked her when I sat down.

"He'll be late tonight guys, some official business with the Clave." The look on her face showed uncertainty, well… I didn't notice it, Jace did. I never noticed things like that. He picked up on many things with people.

"Ugh!" Jace grunted, getting the attention at the table. "That means we could've been late and played by the tree longer." He complained.

"Jonathan Christopher!" Mom's voice was firm. "You come home at the correct time told, even when your father is home, understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

We said our prayers before digging into our food, Jace eating like a pig as usual.  
"Mom what was the news you wanted to tell us?" He asked her while stuffing an entire roll into his mouth.

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot." She put a hand to her forehead, like she felt ashamed. "Yes, I have big news, for all of us!" She said happily. "We're getting new members to our family. I was too young to pick up on what she was getting at, and Jace couldn't pass that up.

"Like who?" was my question.

"Oh Clary, don't you get it?" Jace said to me like I was stupid. "We're getting a little brother or sister!"

"Jace is right!" Mom said with a huge smile on her face. But a smile didn't reach me

"Will it be a boy?" Jace asked. "I want a little brother!"

"Well, the thing is, there are two babies inside me! Twins! So you could end up with two brothers, two sisters or both…. Clary?" Apparently I was shaking my head and didn't realize it.

I looked at my mom who looked worried, then at my brother who looked annoyed. But I didn't care, I was angry. I didn't want new siblings. My whole world was crumbling apart and I could barely stand it.

"I don't want a brother or sister, I like things just the way they are! I hate you!" And like that I jumped from my chair darted for my bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

It was probably twenty minutes later when my mom knocked on my door. I didn't respond, even though a big part of me wanted her to go away. She came into my room, and I kept my face buried in my pillow, refusing to look at her. I felt the weight of the mattress shift as she sat down next to me.

"Clary, I know what is bothering you." She said it softly. I can hardly remember the sound of my mother's voice, but I do remember that it was soothing,

"You're afraid that the twins will replace you." I still said nothing. "You've always been the baby, and want to stay that way."

"You and Daddy are going to love them more than me!" I finally choked out my feelings.

"Oh Clary, that will never happen!"

"Yes it will!"

"No Clary." Her voice was still soft. I felt her weight shift over me, and then I felt her lifting me up, I tried to resist at first, but my 'little-girl' instincts wanted to be held, so I gave in. She held me in her lap and rocked me like she always did.

"We love both you and Jace equally, and you know that! And the same goes for the twins when they arrive." Little did she know, that deep down I knew father had a small favoritism towards Jace. Not too noticeable. Just that…

Only Jace was allowed to go with him when it involved Shadowhunting.  
He trained only Jace.  
Only Jace did the _guy_ things with father.

I didn't understand it back then, but now that I am older, it was all because I was a girl. Father pretended to be pro-women in front of mom, but deep down he really wasn't. He thought that I was a sweet little doll, nothing more. He treated me like a delicate porcelain doll, but never like the future of our kind.

"You promise?" I asked her.

"Yes!" She kissed my forehead.

My bedroom door opened again, and there stood father, with a small grin on his face

"Everything better?" He asked. My mom said yes and he came closer and kneeled in front of us on the floor.

"Just so you know, you'll always be my little princess above all, no matter what." He said with a smile.

And that did it, because I wanted his attention more than anything,…

Liar….


	3. III Dolls

**Hi again! C'mon ppl I know it's a bit slow, but I know it's decent. lol. Actually if anyone is willing I would like a BETA for this story, so Review or PM me, and let me know. Actually because I did the last two chapters at like... 2AM I now realize they kind of do suck. lol. I just drabbled them and posted them like a jerk. But this one I actually thought through and actually... wrote I guess you could say. So please review and let me know, I would love a Beta, thank you. Enjoy! =) ~ Scrotie

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Angels In The Attic

III. Dolls

I remember sitting on Isabelle's bedroom floor, while she painted my toenails. I was never really into playing dress up. I clung to my brother's side so much that Isabelle often claimed that I had forgotten how to be a girl. But that wasn't it. I just didn't like playing dress-up or makeover's, I just liked being Clary. I had always been like that since I could remember, and that was one thing Isabelle lacked in… understanding a friend. But because she was my friend- my best friend, I put aside my pride and just let her do away with me. After all she had all boy siblings, and she was the only girl, when was she ever going to get any girl time if her only best friend didn't even act like one?

My memory of that day consisted of Isabelle chattering on about babies, and how unruly they are.

"First they tell you that you'll be the center of their attention." She ranted on. "But really, they're just trying to get you to be excited for a new baby, so you can help change its gross diapers, clean its drool, and listen to it scream all day!" She whined.

None of this was making me feel any better, but I kept quiet and listened to everything she had to say. She talked about the day her brother Max was born, how he screamed all day and through the night. She whined about having to help change his diapers, and feed him, and bathe him.

I remembered when Max was born, and I personally couldn't get enough of him. But I remembered Isabelle too. She felt the same way I felt about a younger sibling. That soon mom and dad would forget me, and leave me outside in a doghouse while the new baby gets everything anything it wants. But Max was different!

I liked the way he giggled, and smiled. I was very highly amused at how toddlers play when he turned 3. To me, he was a real-life doll. I got to hug and snuggle him, and he actually responded instead of me using my imagination to make baby noises.  
But too Isabelle; he sucked up her life, and the attention she craved from her mother and father.

Back then; I thought it was probably different for actual siblings. When I thought Max was cute, Isabelle thought he was a giant bag of drool, puke, and poop. I often wondered if that's how Jace felt when I was born. And being the little girl that I was, the thought made my stomach hurt, and my eyes sting. Was there a time when he actually hated me? I had to know for myself!

After leaving the Lightwood's home, and getting settled down for bed, I waited for silence to fully take hold of the house before a crept out of my room. I pushed opened Jace's door slightly, just taking a peak into the darkness.

The moon shown through his window, and only lit parts of his room. I could only see the outline of his body that lay deep under the covers. I slowly crept in, hoping that I wouldn't wake him, but I should've known my brother better than that.

"Clary…?" I heard him moan. "What are you doing?" He sounded wide-awake, to my surprise; I froze stiff and watched as his body shifted so he was facing me. Not that I could see him very well.

"I um… wanted to ask you something." I heard him let out an irritable sigh, before he answered.

"Ask me about what, Clary?"

"What did you think of me when I was little?" As my eyes adjusted I could finally see his face, thought as vague as my sight may have been, I could still make out his expressions. From the look he was giving me, I could tell that he was half expecting me to ask that question. He motioned for me to go to him, and I did. I climbed up on to his bed and sat in front of him, waiting for my answer.

"…. I hated you." He whispered. My heart felt like it stopped, and I could feel the tears burning from inside my eyes. My biggest fear was true, and I couldn't bear it.

"But only at first, Clary." He added. "I was only 2, much too little to understand. And it was hard for mom and dad to take care of two babies at once, so they found it hard to treat us equal at times."

"But you still hated me…" I tried not to sob, but my voice was rough with tears, and so it was obvious that I was hurt. I hated it when people made me cry, I felt I was at my weakest when I did.

"Oh, Clary…" Jace cooed as he scooted closer. "Sometimes I hate you now, but not _really_ hate you! We're siblings, we're suppose to get on each other's nerves!" I brought up one hand and wiped it across my face, trying to stop the booger flow, as well as the tears. "C'mon Clary, I'm sure sometimes you hate me…"

Come to think of it, sometimes I did!  
I hated when he treated me like I was stupid  
I hated how so arrogant he was… even at age ten!  
I hated how whenever I were playing with my dolls, he always had to kill one of them off.

One time he tore apart one doll, and took a red marker and drew blood all over her to make her look more dead. I was devastated that he had ruined one of my favorite dolls, and I don't think I talked to him for about three days.

"Well yea… but I still love you!" Jace chuckled.

"Well of course you do, and I love you, nothing will ever change that!" I finally smiled for the firs time in hours, and I could see him returning it in the glint of light from the moon.

"You'll see…" Jace reassured. "That having baby siblings isn't so bad… now c'mon, Clary. Get some sleep." I snuggled up next to him in his bed, and soon fell asleep with his arm around me.

When months passed and the babies were born, I think Jace and I were more nervous than our father was. A boy and a girl had been born that day. And our parents named then Cara, Jamie.

In time, Cara ended up being the one that screamed all day and through the night, while Jamie stayed quiet. We did have to help mom with them since there were two babies at once, but it was like Jace had said, it wasn't so bad.

Yes there were tough times, like when Cara would get into her fits, oh she would stop until she got what she wanted. Jace was giving me lessons on how to not give in to her. While Jamie was quiet and sweet. He always did as he was told, unless Cara was involved of course. They stuck together the same way Jace and I did. If Cara were in trouble, Jamie would be quick to defend her no matter what she did, and the same went visa versa. Unless they were fighting with one another of course.

Infact, I enjoyed the twins company so much that I found myself rushing home to play with them. And Isabelle… believe it or not… loved to as well. It was the same as it was with Max…

To me they were life-like dolls…


	4. IV Shadows Of Dreams

**Yes, for those of you who see this story being updated without reviews and are thinking... "Why the effort?" Well, One) it was 7PM and I was bored and I love to write. Two) Because you never know. and Three) I actually have had people add this Alert request and favorites, so that's enough to keep me motivated lol. I still want a beta, but I'm not in a hurry. Anyways here's the next Chap. If I do get better response for it, it is suppose to be one of a trilogy... I think. *Shrugs* Like I already said, It was 7PM and I was bored so... and to the people who have added this to their list, Thank you. But I would still love a reviews, I am welcome to criticism and it'll help me improve.**

**Thank You  
~ Scrotie **

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Angels In The Attic

IV. Shadows Of Dreams

The clubhouse was finished and I had met up with Isabelle to decorate it. I love to draw, much like my mother loved to paint, so in order to keep my brother happy I drew many things to hang up on the walls. Every time Isabelle tried to hang up anything pink, or anything with flowers or hearts, I had to stop her. She threw a tantrum about it, but eventually I got her to see eye to eye. We needed to make it neutral since this place was going to belong to both boys and girls.

I drew pictures of dragons- mean ones, not pretty ones. I drew funky designs to still give it a decorative look, but not too girly. And most of all I drew many rune-like drawings. None of them being the actual runes we copied onto our skin, but I liked the way they came out.

I drew one in particular that winded like a braid up and down. I called it Bondage. For it meant that we would be bound to each other always no matter what. And that went for all of us. Jace, Isabelle, Alec, Max, the Twins, and me- we would never fall apart, and we would stick it through to the end, to be together always! I made that clear it would be the biggest rule of the house! Most likely everyone agreed and that was our motto.

"Here, Clary." Cara handed me cutout drawings of animals. "I gots more."

"You _have_ more." I corrected her.

"I _have _more." She repeated as she handed me the drawings. She was pretty good for a four-year-old. The turtle looked great, his shell was detailed with all lumps popping up here and there. A lizard with his tongue waving out at us, a puppy dog begging for attention.

"Wow, Cara. These are really good!" I complimented my sister.

"Just like you and mommy." She said with a smile. Her tiny frame sat Indian-style on the ground while she cut out more images for me to hang, while Jamie played next to her with pots and pans as drums. And yes, they actually did make good music while we worked. They were very talented little toddlers. I was proud to say they were my younger siblings.

Once the clubhouse was finished we met there every day after lessons and sat around and just basically hung out. No rituals or anything. Just our own little space to calls ours, and only ours. The house turned out more amazing than I thought to imagine.

With beautiful pictures drawn all over the walls, pretty lighted stars fell form the ceiling. Since Cara loved to play house, and pretend to cook so much, Jace put in her little fake cooking set in a perfect spot in the house. We had chairs, bean chairs, and a smaller version of a sofa. A desk, a bookshelf, which mostly belonged to Jace and Alec. A mirror and desk for Isabelle to play dress up, and just enough room for me to sketch. It was almost like a small apartment, and we made it all ourselves.

"MOMMYYYY!" Screams shouted down the hall into all our bedrooms. Bolted out of bed from the sound screeching in my ears. It was Jamie, screaming with terror from his bedroom. I rushed out of my room to meet my mother, and Jace in the hall. My mom was already rushing to the twins' room, while Jace and I followed behind.

When we got to the bedroom, both twins were embracing each other tightly, with Jamie soaked with tears, and still hollering like a lost puppy.

"Jamie had a nightmare." Cara cooed.

My mother rushed to the bed and pulled him onto her lap and rocked him gently like she did for all of us. She twisted her fingers into his mess of blonde curls, and hummed into his forehead.

"It was only a dream." She reassured him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked him.

"I dreamt that all of us were sep-wated," No one can ever resist the baby talk. "I couldn't find anybody, and I was scared! There was a monster that took everwy won away! He took you first, then me, than Cara!"

"What's going on? What is it?" Said a voice from the doorway. We all looked to see father standing stiff looking in on the sight. But something about the way he looked bothered me. He didn't look concerned, or even that he cared, he looked…. Annoyed.

"He had a nightmare." My mom answered.

"He's too old to be having these fits!" Our father snapped. "He needs to be a man!"

But… he was still a baby in some ways. The look on my mother's face told me she wanted to get up and slap a hand across his face, but she stayed where she was, holding our baby brother in her arms, and glared daggers at father.

"He's only a child!" She napped back.

"A child that needs to grow up, and learn not to be afraid of the dark!" Father replied darkly. I glanced at Jace, who was looking down at his feet. He looked awkward and I didn't understand why.

"You spoil these children, Jocelyn!" Were father's last words before he exited the bedroom. I was appalled at his reaction to suddenly thinking that a four-year-old little boy needed to be a man. Since when was he like that?

He sobbed and sobbed, it took some time to calm the poor toddler down. Once mother had him convinced it was only a dream. She tucked him back in his bed, and sang to him till he was back to sleep, giving Jace and I the head nod to go on back to our rooms.

Jace never went back, and though we weren't twins it was like we couldn't be separated even by thousands of miles. I sensed he wasn't in his room, and I already knew where he'd be.

There was a way to get onto the roof of the house, he always find a way to do it elegantly, but me… I had to climb the damn latter to get up there. Jace liked to look at the stars when he had a lot on his mind, and most of the time I would join him.

"Hey." I said, getting his attention. He turned to look at me- not surprised to see me in the least. He smiled warmly.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Couldn't sleep."

I'll say it again, even though we weren't twins, I always could feel him almost as if we were. Concern crossed my stomach, after the sight with Jamie, I figured something was egging inside Jace's head "Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" He shot back at me. "How come every time someone can't sleep, it's always has to be because something's wrong?"

"Well, Sor-ry." I mused. "But I'm not stupid, I've known you my whole life, Jonathan Christopher! Now spit it!" It was always us to call each other by our full names when we meant business, but Jace for some odd reason hated to be called Jonathan.

"Don't call me that!" He shot back at me.

"Then tell me what's wrong!" He sighed deeply and stared up at the stars, the night had a nice cool breeze, I hated heat. With cold weather you can get warm very easily, but it always seems very difficult to cool off when it was hot, and I hated it even more at night.

"Something's bothering me." Jace said suddenly.

"Well what then?" I was growing impatient with him.

"I don't know, Clary. I just… feel like there's something wrong. But I don't know why." There was an edgy feeling in the house lately, and it always seemed to be whenever father was around.

"It's Dad." I said in a whisper. Jace got quiet, but I didn't push on. I took my eyes away from him to look back into the stars; we were both quiet for some time, until Jace broke the peaceful silence.

"He's changed."

"Who? Dad?" I asked. "No." I shook my head in denial. "I think that maybe it's just that something's bothering him. Stress or something-"

"No Clary!" Jace looked at me, his eyes hard on mine. "He's changed!"

"How so?" I was still in denial. And again Jace got quiet, I had a feeling he was hiding something, so this time I didn't take my eyes off him. It always made Jace cave when someone was staring him down, while he was guilty.

"You know how… we're not suppose to get marked until we're proven to have the right mental capabilities, and of right age?" He asked me.

"Duh, yea." I was young, I didn't get it. Jace looked at me again. Starring cold icicles into my eyes. The moon washed out the color in his golden irises, and created a silvery hue. He then slowly lifted his sleeve and showed me a rune nearly at the top of his shoulder. He had quite a few at this point, so I still wasn't catching on like the dumb child I was.

"The rune of Stability, so what?"

"So what!" Jace repeated with a shot of anger in his tone. "He marked me with this when I was eight years old, Clary!"

"What!" My eyes nearly popped out of my head. I couldn't believe our father would do such a thing. Marking a child that young could be fatal, and he did it to his own son!

"You've kept it to yourself for this long?" Jace just nodded quietly.

"What about mom-"

"According to him she doesn't know."

I was quiet for a while; I didn't know what to say. I was in shock. I knew father had been acting strange since right after the twins were born, but I was so determine to not think the worse. Jace was usually the optimistic one. I felt completely out of place for acting more like him than me. As confusing as that may sound. But one this did burn my curiosity.

"What was it like?" I asked him.

"What?"

"Getting the rune so young… what was it like?"

"Terrible" Jace's voice was hollow, almost like he didn't want to talk about it. But I _wanted_ to know. "It was really the odd dreams. I don't remember them, but I know they were disturbing." I remembered when he kept having nightmares after nightmares for that time period. I remembered what they were about. I dreamt that a dark man would trap him and his dreams, and he couldn't wake up. I remember because he told me, and the description alone gave me nightmares.

Jace was scared, that much was obvious. But Jace was never going to admit it, even to himself. He was taught to be the man of the house. If something were to happen to dad, he was to take care of us.

Everything was a little creepy, we talked about the same accusations with Alec and Izzy, but they were obsessed with thinking that we just had wild imaginations. Now I don't believe in prophecies, or any thing like that, but Jamie's nightmare got me thinking a lot. And it would be soon that I would change my mind about that….

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**Preview for Next Chapter... (if I get a better turn-out)**

**Chapter Title: An End**

_"Clary, we want mommy. Where is she we want her now!" Cara demanded like she always did.  
__"Cara," Jace said with his voice firm, but still held its sympathy. "Mommy wont be coming back..."_

_"Pack your bags we have to leave!" Father ran the house now like we were his solders, and this was bootcamp.  
"Leave? Where are we going? When are we coming back?" I asked, my voice sounded rushed.  
__"We're not coming back! And we're going to live with certain family. You need taking care of, and I can't do that alone..." Father pulled out suitcases one by one._

_"We want out! We want to play! We want to see Max, We want OUTSIDE!"_

**So I will only continue if this does better. Unless I get bored again. lol =P  
Bad? Good? Terrible? C'mon let me know! =) **


	5. V Boys and Girls

**With a big thanks to my newly awesome Beta, ClaryxJace! Here is your update!**

**Note: I know this chapter was supposed to be called 'An End' but I didn't like the pacing of the story, so I added another chapter in between of their time before the attic. Again Thank You to all who have reviewed and added this to their favorites and alerts list.**

**~Scrotie**

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Angels In The Attic

V. Girls And Boys

The Twins fifth birthday had arrived and mother was putting every ounce of her time in decorating the house. To her; age five was important just as much as age 10, 13, or 16. She invited everyone in all of damn Idris. The Lightwoods, of course, considering they were the closest to us. Along with the Waylands, the Herondales, and even the Penhallows, and we weren't really fond of them. But most of all, mom invited Luke. He was mom's best friend, and we considered him family. He always came to visit with presents, and joy. Luke's visits were always anticipated with excitement, and we couldn't wait to see him again.

While Jace and I helped decorate, mom decided to suddenly stop and ask me to dress _decent_ for the party. That was her way of asking me to wear a dress. I hated wearing those damn ugly things. I always felt exposed, and uncomfortable in them. It was the fact that I couldn't sit Indian-style, or rough around with Jace without someone seeing my underwear or getting the dress dirty.

I scrunched my nose, and let out a groan. I didn't want to wear a dress. Especially to a party where I would be most likely be having fun. To a formal dance, yes. To a wedding, sure. But not at a party.

My mother turned to glare at me, putting on her perfect 'it's my way or the highway' face. "Clarissa Marie, you _will_ wear a dress! It is your younger siblings' party, not yours! And dress Cara in her best dress too. Jace will do Jamie." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and stomp away; although I was doing it in my imagination.

I think momma was always a bit disappointed that I wasn't more… _girlie_; I guess you could say. There were many times when she would ask if she could play with my hair, and I would throw a tantrum until she gave up. She would force me to put on dresses that I was uncomfortable in, and expected my hair to be done. I guess I understood, but I still always wished that she would just let me be _me._

I put on a pale green sundress, white flowers covered the bottom, and the top flared just slightly. My red curly hair was pulled back in a matching headband, and my shoes were white sandals. I put Cara in a pretty ocean blue dress that had white ribbons in the front, and black shiny dress shoes. I took the front of her hair and pulled it back on the sides, with pretty blue and white ribbons, and put the rest in soft curls that fell just by her elbows. She had such long thick hair for a girl her age. So did I, only mine was even thicker, and curlier.

"You look beautiful, Cara!" I told her, while straightening her dress out.

"Like a princess." She replied with her warm goofy smile.

Having Cara around also relieved me, she was much more of a girl than I, and that meant that when she got old enough, mom would be all over her, and let me be. Who would ever think that I couldn't wait for someone to come along and take my mother's attention? Of course I knew my mom wouldn't actually forget about me. I was old enough to know that everyone has their own personal relationship with anyone they know, and Cara's would be the cutesy-girlie-fun time with mom, while I was a tomboy; I would be more conversational, and playful.

When Cara and I came out of my bedroom Jace was standing at the end of the hall, wearing a nice button-up white shirt, and black jeans, Jamie was also in a button-up shirt, but it was blue. When Jace looked up and saw me, he snorted while pointing at my dress.

"Shut up!" I spat.

"What? I didn't say anything?" He continued to snort.

"You're laughing."

"Yea, because you didn't get your way, and now you're stuck wearing a dress. Ha ha!"

"Jonathan Christopher!" I nearly shouted at him. "You're always lecturing me about me being mature; why don't you act it every once in a while!"

"I think Clary looks pretty." Jamie said while smiling up at me.

"Why thank you Jamie!" I smiled back. "At least one of my brothers is polite." I glared at Jace. He only smirked, throwing on his perfect smug face like usual, and said the worse thing he could ever say to me.

"You're becoming more like a girl every day, Clary."

I don't know about you, but to me that was a low blow. To me that was worse than calling me ugly, stupid, or just plain evil. And yes, as much as I hate to say this, but the _girl_ side of me wanted to cry, but the tomboy side wanted me to slug him, and then ignore him for the rest of the day.

That's exactly what I did.

Before I knew it, Jace had stumbled back up against the wall, and was looking at me with shock, and disbelief. And as a matter of fact, I sort of felt the same way. It was hard to get by Jace. His training was phenomenal, and if I remember correctly, many had stated back then that no one was as quick or as witty as Jace when it came to hunting, or fighting. He moved with abnormal speed, it was actually somewhat weird. But I guessed that everyone has his or her own unique talents, and being fast was his. I took each hand from my Twin siblings and marched off leaving him dumbfounded and still leaning against the wall.

Soon our guests arrived, and soon so did Luke. He brought the Twins birthday presents; a beautiful porcelain doll for Cara, that must've cost quite a penny, and a train set for Jamie. He also brought me and Jace presents as well, I was given a stele, which made me incredibly excited because it was my first. Jace got himself a dagger with many runes written along the blade, and a ruby that was in crested in the handle.

My stele was beautiful; it was silver and shined like crystal icicles that hung from the roof above our windows. When dad greeted Luke, he looked painfully annoyed to see him. But he obviously kept it to himself, as he played on a fake smile and a handshake, and asked if his sister was coming. Obviously no, that meant she had to see Stephen Herondale, her ex-husband who remarried a younger women named Celine. I felt horrible for her, I couldn't imagine being in love and then be betrayed.

Then the Penhallows… my worse nightmare. Aline was their daughter, she was Jace's age, but probably the biggest spoiled brat in the world. Ever since I could remember she was pushing me, tripping me, kicking me, and every time she did something wrong, I somehow got in trouble for it. Bitch.

Oh, what's even better is she brought along her annoying cousin, Sebastian. He has had a crush on me since I was little, but he was rude, and always bickered. I may have been inexperienced with dating at that time, but I figured most girls don't like to be nagged about dating. You nag a girl about how much you like her, and it's an immediate turn-off.

"Hello Clary." Aline said with her stuck-up tone. But because I was told to be on my best behavior, I felt like I could've been an actress that day.

"Hey Aline." My voice was joyful and sweet.

"Jon!" She shrieked when she saw Jace over my shoulder. She pushed passed me, nearly knocking me over to get to him. Isabelle came over and glared at her along with me.

"I think she's had a thing for your brother since we were toddlers." She said with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm telling you now Clary, if he goes out with her, I'll kick his ass."

"I don't think he will." I shook my head. "She keeps calling him Jon, he hates to be called Jon or Jonathan, and he always yells at her to stop, but she doesn't."

"Yea, but let's be honest," Isabelle said. "Your brother is pretty damn good looking, and it's starting to get obvious that he knows that. All guys with an ego that big, will date any pretty girl who comes up and grinds on them."

An image of Jace and Aline grinding, crossed my mind, and I suddenly felt nauseous. I turned to Isabelle and slapped at her arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For almost making me puke." I said, and she laughed once she realized what I meant. "That is not funny, I could've gotten brain damage from that image!"

"Hi Clary." _Oh no_. I turned ever so slowly, to see none other than Sebastian Verlac.

"Well, I'll leave you two lovers at it." Isabelle resisted a giggle. I turned to her and sent her a pleading look, she shrugged and wandered off. Why was she my best friend again?

"How are you?" he asked me.

"Good." My tone was flat, and I was trying to sound as uninterested as possible. He was the same age as Jace, and I know that was only two years difference, but to me, that was like a million! To me, he was Jace's friend, so that meant we weren't supposed to like each other. Other than the fact that he made me sick to my stomach.

"I really like your dress." He said as sweetly as possible.

"Thanks." I said bluntly.

"It's not too often to see you in a dress, and you look beautiful. You should seriously wear a dress more often." If he knew me well- which he doesn't- he would know that just got him nowhere. I liked my jeans, and my hoodies. I felt comfortable in them; therefore I felt I looked best in them. That's what Ross told me when we were little. Mom made me wear a dress to go to the Clave headquarters in the heart of Idris. We had to go and support our father in his fight against Downworlders.

Ross Patterson was my best friend when we were little, but the Clave had shipped his family off to somewhere in California, or something like that. The last time I saw him I was seven. I guess you could say we were that little kid couple. He told me at the Accords Hall that day, that I looked best in my jeans and shirts, because that's what I was most comfortable in. It made me blush… and it was rare when I would blush.

"Yea well," I said getting ready to turn away from Sebastian. "Too bad, because I hate them." And I moved away looking for Isabelle. When I found her, she was eating cake with Alec, and laughing.

"Why did you abandon me?" I asked her.

"Because it's funny," She laughed. "Besides, he's cute, what's wrong with him?"

"Everything." I said as I sat down next to her.

"Oh what?" She mumbled a baby tone. "Because he's not Ross?" I rolled my eyes at her, and pouted as I looked away. "Oh c'mon Clary, you two were like 5."

"Shut up!" Personally, at the time I really didn't understand why Sebastian Verlac was so interested in me. I was twelve and still looked like a little girl. While he was fourteen, and most girls by then start to look like women. My chest was completely flat, and I wasn't very tall at all. Why didn't he want Isabelle? Who had breasts by the age of ten! Her hair was long, thick, and straight. She actually had shape to her body, unlike me. Isabelle had beautiful hips and strong legs.

Jace came waltzing up, and I was still upset with him, I turned my head away looking into nothing.

"Having fun flirting with Aline Penhallow?" Isabelle asked him, her voice full of annoyance. Jace rolled his eyes, and peeked over his shoulder, looking for her.

"No!" he groaned. "She wont leave me alone! And she's not even that pretty."

"Nu-huh! She's hot!" Alec suddenly shouted. We all looked at him curiously. It was always awkward whenever he said a girl was hot for some odd reason. It just seemed like he shouldn't be saying it at all.

"Riiiighhht….?" Isabelle scoffed at her brother.

"Shut up!" Alec yelled at her, while Jace looked at me, but I still refused to look at him.

"So… baby sister… what did you and Sebastian talk about?"

I didn't answer; I just kept on staring into nothing. He walked over and squeezed himself in between Isabelle and me.

"Hey!" Isabelle protested, but Jace ignored her.

"Well?" I stayed quiet. "Did he whisper in your ear, tell you that you're pretty? Hm?" I continued to look away. Not acknowledging him at all. "Well, if he did… I'll kill him!" That was weird…

I spun around to face him, but I was still angry. I glared deeply into his eyes, almost as if he could drop dead from my evil stare.

"And who are you? My father? No, I think not, I can take perfectly care of myself!"

"Oh c'mon, Clary. You're not still mad at me for calling you a girl are you?" I turned my head away from him again, going right back into ignoring him. "Well, pardon me for making assumptions, but you _are_ a girl, aren't you? I mean I would know, I've seen you naked before-"

"You've seen your sister naked, Morgenstern? That's sick." Sebastian stood in front of us with a smug grin spread across his face. He eyed me seductively, which only made me more uncomfortable. Jace noticed- Sebastian and him were friends, but he always hated it when Sebastian would to flirt with me; when it was clearly obvious that I wasn't interested.

"Since she was a baby… Verlac." Jace wrapped venom around Sebastian's last name. "You know, changing diapers, and bathing?" Sebastian turned his attention back to Jace, still grinning and his hands behind his back, like he was supposed to be some sort of gentlemen.

"Is it really necessary that you saw her bathing?" He asked my brother. I could see the anger flare up in Jace's face right before my eyes.

"Is it really necessary that you keep harassing her?" Now Jace's voice was nearly to a shout. Sebastian started laughing; I couldn't help but hold back a gag at his snarly looking mouth while he smiled.

"I was only joking, Morgenstern! Jeez!" He waved a hand in front of him as if he were pushing off the tension. "She's like a baby to me, I'm only teasing. Right Clary? You know I'm only teasing?"

I couldn't believe him… then again, yes I could. I rolled my eyes at the boys overly confident attitude, and pushed myself off the seat.  
"Whatever." Was my reply before I walked through the crowd of people until I made it to the back door, I just needed to get away from people for a moment or two.

I was out there for probably about five minutes just listening to the birds, and feeling the breeze go through my hair. It felt good to be outside in the fresh air. Too many people in one spot can get suffocating.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see my friends and my brother coming over. Isabelle sat next to me, her eyes held comfort, sympathy. I didn't understand why, I wasn't really upset, just sick of Sebastian and Aline was all.

"You okay sweetie?" She asked me.

"Yea, why?"

"You just sort of stormed out of there." She started putting her hand through my hair.

"No, I just needed some air." Jace came and sat on the other side of me. I was still pretty annoyed with him. But not THAT annoyed.

"I'm wearwy, wearwy sorwy for cawin' you a girl, Clary." Jace sang in a baby tone. He stuck out his lower lip and made it tremble, I have to admit it was cute and it made me smile, even giggle.

"I'm not _that_ mad at you! By the Angel you guys! I'm not depressed or anything."

"Well, be glad we care at least." Said Alec. I smiled.

"I do care."

"Hey Scout!" Luke read me the book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' when I was four, and ever since has always considered me to be just like Scout- the little girl who narrated the story. She wore overalls, and followed her brother, Jem, everywhere he went- she too became very insulted when her brother called her a girl.

Luke was trotting out of the house with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked more like a mundane than ever, but I think that's one of the things we loved most about him. He was so casual and sweet. Not very many Shadowhunters are like that. Sometimes it's nice to have someone close to you who's very humble and warm all the time. I'll tell you this; at the time I felt like he was more of a father than anyone. My memories of Luke were always fun.

I remember the park, and the swings; he would always swing me higher and higher. I remember the way he'd let Jace and I climb all over him like he was mountain, and catching me at the bottom of every slide. Playing hide and go seek, he always knew where we were, but pretended not to know. Those were the good days. I honestly don't have very many happy memories with my real father. They mostly consisted of him being frustrated with the mess we would make, or the noise. He read to us at night, yes. He would even rock us to sleep, but those moments were rare.

"Everything okay, you guys?" Luke asked us.

"Yea," said Jace. "Clary is just being a girl." He laughed, but I didn't. I let out a fierce growl, and turned to punch his arm. Instead of being in shock this time, he got angry, and yelled at me.

"I was joking! You little bitch!"

"Hey!" Luke interrupted our fight. It was scary when Luke would get mad, because it wasn't often when he did. His face would get serious, and his voice was always that creepy calm. "First of all, you watch your mouth, Jonathan! Second, Clary you shouldn't be hitting him!"

"He's been a jerk to me all day!" I argued.

"You're just pissed because you have to wear a dress-" Jace yelled back at me, but Luke interrupted again.

"I don't care if he's been a jerk to you! It doesn't make you any better when you hit him for it. You're too old to behave like that! Besides you two are family, you should stick together no matter what! That's just the rule of family!"

We both became very quiet, but I was stubborn I wasn't going to apologize. In fact I took pride in knowing that I inflicted some pain into that punch. Luke knew me well, though. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows as if telling me to apologize… or else! Luke did have permission to punish us after all. I rolled my eyes, and looked away from Jace.

"Clary…" Luke mused my name.

"I'm sorry." It came out like a mutter.

"Clary-"

"I'm sorry!" I said louder and actually looked at Jace when I said it.

"Thank you!" Luke said before looking at Jace, who pretty much pulled the same thing I did.

"I only called her a girl, that's what she is, isn't it?"

"Jace…"

"I'm sorry, Clary." Jace gave in quicker than I did.

"That's better… now I came out here to have a nice conversation with you two, and I am going to proceed with that. How have things been?" We always talked about things with Luke, especially me. So I told him.

"Other than Dad acting like he's gone completely anal, fine."

"Clary!" Jace snapped, and elbowed me in the ribs.

"What did I do now?" I shouted at him, but Luke completely ignored all of this and continued on the subject of father.

"What do you mean, Scout?"

"He got mad because Jamie had a nightmare about a month ago, and he's never home. He completely ignores the Twins, and takes off."

"Well…" Luke looked stunned for some odd reason, but then lost the next. He let out a long sigh and said. "You're father has always been a man of stress, I'm sure he's just bothered by politics in the Clave." Jace was shaking his head slowly, but I chose not to argue with Luke. I didn't want to bring up Jace's first rune, I was smart enough to know that maybe that was best kept secret for now.

"Sometimes I wish you were our dad." I mumbled hoping no one heard me. But of course I was heard.

"Don't say that, Clary." Luke's voice was soft, but Jace's wasn't

"He's our father Clary, whether you like it or not!" I glared at him, since _he_ was the one who said that our father had changed. I was pissed about his sudden mood swing.

"Jace is right, Clary, he is your father. And he loves you dearly." I put my head down stared into my hands in my lap. Suddenly we heard everyone grow excited inside the house, we looked in the windows to see them gathering into the living room. Mom then came outside. "We're opening presents, come on inside you guys." We said okay, and started to get up from the log when Luke stopped us, and said something that we at the time didn't realize really needed to hear.

"I just wanted you kids to know that if _anything_ should happen, you and your mother are free to come find me, and stay with me… for as long as you like!" He didn't let us answer; instead he walked ahead of us and into the house, leaving us stunned just outside the back door….


	6. VI Darkness Unfolds

Angels In The Attic

VI. Darkness Unfolds

Luke's words buzzed around in my head for the rest of the day. I didn't know whether to ask him what he meant, or best leave it alone. Of course, Jace continued to tell me to forget it. He figured that he was just being caring; considering, he was like a brother to our mother.

True.

But I didn't understand why he would point out '_us and our mother'_ could stay. Almost as if he was expecting our father to do something that would make our mother leave him. To be honest, I knew I wouldn't miss him much. I loved the idea of living with Luke, and having that warm feeling of a family back again. But I didn't say all of this to Jace. He seemed bothered by the subject. His response was always optimistic. He would say that maybe we were getting carried away with our imagination, and maybe Dad was stressed after all.

But the look in his eyes, always told me otherwise. He seemed to have changed into someone completely different than before. I know I was always struggling to get my father's attention before. I wanted him to treat me the same as he treated Jace. But he still loved me, treated me well, and would smile every day. Now he never smiled, and hardly even looked at any of us. Just Jace and he even seemed uncomfortable about it… although he kept an optimistic attitude about everything.

The Twins went to bed a little early. They were exhausted from all the day's excitement; they both fell asleep leaning against each other on the couch. It was a perfect picture, if only I had a camera ready.

Jace and I stayed downstairs to help mother clean up. While we cleaned, Dad kept trying to argue with her… quietly. Like he thought we couldn't hear. But of course we could, we were kids! Kids hear everything, even when they're trying not to listen. It's like something unavoidable as a child.

The things he was saying was odd for him, but what made Jace and I uncomfortable was his tone, and posture while confronting our mother.

"Is there a reason, he came?" We heard him say in a hush voice.

"Yes, Val!" Our mother's voice was short, and tempered. "He was here for his niece and nephew's birthday!"

"He's not they're uncle!" He said the statement as if she should have known that.

"Excuse me?" She said, her voice rising just a bit. "He's been my best friend since we were children. How _dare_ you say he isn't part of this family."

"He has acquired the curse of the Lycanthrope. I don't want him around our children!"

"He's not dangerous!" This time she shouted, and we could hear her voice crack, which meant she was leaning towards a break. Of all times, I bumped into the table and stumbled over, making noise while doing so. They must've forgotten that we were helping with the mess, because father rushed into the room. Not in a worried way, but as if he were enraged, and ready to charge and kill whatever made the noise.

"What are you doing in here!" He barked, his anger rising to his cheeks creating a crimson red.

"We were helping you guys clean," Jace answered, while helping me off the floor. "Have you forgotten?" I was shocked. It was not like Jace to get sarcastic with our parents, _especially_ our father! And that night I learned why.

Our father's glare strayed to Jace, and he marched forward raising his left hand and backhanded across my brother's face. I screamed as I watched Jace stumble backwards from the impact. I heard my mother shriek before I started yelling.

"Leave him alone!"

"Clarissa!" He turned on me, but my mom shrieked again before he could do damage to me next. I would've taken it, proved I wasn't a doll. I would've stood up to him,  
but mom pleaded in tears from the doorway.

"I will _not_ tolerate disrespect in _my_ house! Is that understood!" He then turned to Jace who was standing straight with his hands locked at his sides. His face was unreadable, but I knew he was angry just by the way he stood.

"Jonathan!" Dad barked at him, I jumped from the volume, but Jace stood perfectly still.

"What?" His voice was cold and dry.

"What did you say?" Jace looked him in the eye.

"I said-"

"Jace, Clary!" mom called from the doorway. I could tell she was trying her hardest not to break.

"To bed, please." She choked out her words, but I didn't want to leave her alone with _him_! Jace on the other hand grabbed my arm, and tugged me away towards the stairs. We both must have the same instincts, because instead of going to our bedrooms we went to the Twin's room. Jamie and Cara were sitting up in one bed, holding each other. We knew they must've heard.

We walked over to the bed, and climbed under the covers with them. Each of us holding onto each twin.

"You will not harm him again!" I heard our mother yell. "Or any other child in this house for that matter!"

"I will not be told how to discipline my own children!" Dad chuckled, but without any amusement in his voice.

"Oh now they're your children?" Our mother was hysterical; I could hear her sobbing in between her words. "You're hardly in this house, and when you are you either ignore them, or…" She choked again. "Hit them!"

Father let out another humorous laughter, one that made my bones chill. "The boy is becoming a man, he can take a little pain every so often. Trust me." I glanced over at Jace who didn't return the gaze; his face was unreadable, and pale. I knew more things must've happened between them that Jace wasn't telling me. But at the moment I left it alone.

"What is that suppose to mean?" I heard my mother say. "Jonathon is still just a boy, and no child deserves to be treated as you treat him most of the time."

"How do I treat him, Jocelyn?"

"Like he's a mindless machine to beckon at your call!" Again with his laughter, it made my stomach turn. "He's a human being, Val! Not a puppet!" What did she mean by that? "He. Is. Your. Son!"

"Enough!" I heard our mother gasp, and something that sounded very similar to a slap; followed by a crash like someone or something fell onto the floor. Immediately my hands flew to Cara's ears shielding her from the harsh punishments that were being enforced onto our mother.

I looked over at Jace who had done the same thing I did to Cara, with Jamie. Both hands covered his ears. Usually the twins fought us if we covered their ears from almost anything, but this was different and they both knew it. I saw that Jamie had placed his little hands over Jace's as if to help block out the noise. The poor thing looked desperate for a happy place. It's sad isn't it? When children so young know when there is something wrong.

I heard our mom shriek in anger, and at this point I wished there was someone there to cover my ears.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing!" Her voice rose with anger, "I know you Valentine! And I will NOT let you use our son for such business. Or ANY of our children, you LEAVE THEM ALONE!" I heard another gasp of pain, and the sound of his hand making contact with her skin. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I stayed quiet for my baby siblings; I wanted to be like Jace. I wanted to be strong.

It took some time before the noise died out, before we just heard whispers from both our parents. Whispers that I couldn't understand. Only every once and a while would I hear words, or maybe a phrase.

"_How could you?" _from my mother.

"_I had no choice…" _from our father

And, _"What do we do now, Val?"_

I didn't know if they were making up, or if they finally realized that we could hear everything… it shouldn't of been that hard to figure out, am I right?

We didn't leave the twins that night. They fell asleep in our arms as we cuddled up next to them. Both of us were awake just looking across from each other. I don't think either of us knew _what_ to say. I believe that it's fair to say that we were both scared.

"Clary…." Jace whispered my name.

"Jace…" I whispered back, he seemed like he was holding back, from what I wasn't sure. Suddenly I felt a movement from behind me and I sat straight up out of bed to see our mother standing in the door frame. Even in the dark I could see that her eyes were red, and swollen from tears. Her right cheek was red, which meant he only slapped her. I know that it's still not good that our father striked our mother, but either way it was better than a punch.

"Mom," Jace was the first to talk. "Are you alright?"

She came quietly to the bed and sat down in the chair beside it.

"Mom?" I said, hoping she was okay.

"I'm fine, kids."

"No," Jace's voice was soft. "You don't seem like it."

She looked at him and smiled, a sad smile, but genuine one. "You remind me so much of your father when we first met, Jonathon. He was so sweet, and caring." That last word came out as a sob, she looked so broken. "But now…" she trailed off sucking her lips in, the same thing I did when I tried not to cry.

"Mama…" Jace whispered as he approached her, and hugged her. I came up behind him, hugging her too.

"We can't stay here." She finally said as she let us both go.

"We know mom." Jace kept talking, but I wouldn't say a word. I couldn't figure out why, but it seemed as if my voice had left me, or something was holding me back from speaking.

"Tomorrow while we're out, I want you two to pack as many things as you can, but only bring what you can carry, because when I return we are leaving this place. You hear?"

"Yes mom." Jace said.

"Yes mama." I repeated.

"I love you, all of you, you know that right?" She sobbed.

"Of course," Jace cooed. "And we love you too." Have you ever felt like there was someone standing next to you trying to tell you something, but there is no one there? Yea I know it sounds crazy, but I am sure I am not the only one. It happened to me that night. Even though my mother told us to try and get some sleep, the voice kept me awake, and for the first time since I was real little, I was afraid of the dark…

**AITA*FITA*AITA*FITA**

**Some wicked turns are coming so be wary. ;) Thanks everyone for being so patient with me, and I'm still writing like crazy! So more is a coming! =)**


	7. VII Goodbyes

Angels In The Attic

VII. Goodbyes

I think my mind was in the gutter, or… maybe that's not the right expression. I think I was locked away within myself… yea I think that's it.

Mom and dad had left the house early in the morning, giving us time to pack our things. But I was quiet; I wouldn't even talk to the twins. I just ran around my room, looking for clothes, important things, while Jace packed up the twins' things and maybe some toys that they would need. They were still so very young, you couldn't go anywhere without _some_ toys for them!

My head was buzzing with so many questions, mixed with confusion, and worry.

Why leave? Make _him_ leave! Where were we going to? Luke's? Would we ever see Isabelle, Alec and Max again? What about Amatis's? We could stay there, it wasn't far.  
And where did Luke live anyway?

We had never gone to see Luke, he has ever only come to see us. He never even spoke about where he lived, or even what kind of house he owned. He didn't mention neighbors, or if he lived with someone.

I stopped myself as I came across my portfolio full of all of my drawings since I was little. I made a grab for it, when Jace appeared and snapped at me.

"No!" He said smacking my hand away. I looked at him, pain written all over my face, I know, cause I could feel my cheeks burn. "We can only take what we can carry!"

"I can carry this!" I went to grab for it again, but Jace knocked it away from me.

"No Clarissa!" Tears stung my eyes.

"Yes!" I snatched it, holding it against my chest as if someone was trying to pry it from my hands.

"What has gotten into you!" Jace yelled at me.

"I am NOT leaving these behind!" I felt my voice crack, but I fought the tears as hard as I could. The twins rushed in, hearing our tirade.

"Clarissa, you're being ridiculous! You can always draw more!"

"No I can't!" I nearly screamed. "How do you feel about leaving all of your books behind?" I challenged him. "What about the sword, father had made specifically for you?"

His lips pursed, like a dog getting ready to bite. "It means nothing to me now!" he growled.

"Yea…" my voice shook, but I was stubborn. "Well _these_," I held them tighter. "Mean the _world_ to me! And I will NOT leave them!" Tears finally broke through the wall I had built up around my eyes. I watched as Jace's expression softened, he took a step toward me, and I reacted by taking one back.

"Clary…" he said, his voice was so soft. "It's okay, we'll probably be returning for them, I doubt we will never come back…" And that was it, the key to the door in my head. My heart dropped, and my tears turned to rivers. We were never coming back… someone… something… was trying to tell me that all night.

"We aren't coming back!" I shrieked, while still holding my portfolio tightly. Jace's eyes darted towards the twins as their mouths gasped in shock, and eyes widened with fear. Cara of course protested.

"We aren't coming back? But why!" She yelled. "We don't wanna leave! We wanna stay here and play with Max, we don't wanna go away!" Her yells turned to screams, and Jace turned to glare at me.

"Look at what you've done!" He hissed

"We're coming back, Cara." He looked at her, but she kept wailing.

"Cara!" Jace snapped. "That's enough!" She stopped abruptly and glared at Jace. He turned his gaze back to me, with anger in his eyes.

"Don't listen to Clary, she's just upset." Tears still fell from my face as I stared daggers at him. "Now go play, we'll finish." He told them.

"But-" Cara began, but Jace stopped her.

"Go play!" They left the doorway heading to the backyard when Jace looked at me again.

"We _are_ coming back, and don't _ever_ do that to them again!" I just shook my head.

"No we're not, Jace."

"Yes we are! Maybe not to live here, but at least to get our things! Mom just wants out!"

"And I'm telling you that you're _wrong_!" I yelled

"How do you know!" He shouted at me. I shook my head, not wanting to say that it was a feeling, a hunch. He would only think me crazy, not that it mattered, because he already knew that I had nothing to back up my _theory,_ he knew when I didn't answer.

"See..." he said in a whisper. "You're just paranoid."

Suddenly I remembered something, the tree house! The water flow in my eyes had stopped and dried in a matter of seconds once I had the realization. Jace turned to look at me with an odd expression, his forehead wrinkling with confusion.

"What?" I didn't answer, I darted out of the bedroom down the hall and out of the house before he could even comprehend the fact that I had left. I ran as fast as my legs could carry my little body, along with my portfolio in my hands. I ran and ran until I finally had made it there. I climbed up the latter, and fell to my knees to catch my breath as soon as I reached the top.

Huffing and heaving, I looked up and saw all the drawings on the wall, the pictures of us together, and tears fell from my eyes again. I knew it, I just _knew_ I would never see those drawing, the pictures or my friends ever again. I could hear it in my heart, someone or something was telling me something bad was about to happen, but no one would listen.

I stood and leaned my portfolio up against the wall, I took out a piece of paper to write a note to our friends, when I heard someone climbing up the latter.

"Go away, Jace!"

"Hey!" The voice was a girls, _my_ girl's. I turned around to see Isabelle, with her long black hair tied up in a messy bun and little Max standing at her side.

"By the Angel, Clary!" She frowned the moment our eyes met. "Why are you crying?" She came closer to me, her arms outstretched to embrace me and when she did I didn't want her to ever let go. I sobbed into her shoulder before she finally pulled back to get an explanation out of me.

"Now what happened? Why are you crying?" She said with her hands on my shoulders.

"We're leaving." I said in a whisper.

"Leaving?" Izzy's eyes widened. "What do you mean, _leaving_! Where are you going!"

"I don't know, I just know we're leaving, and I have such a strong sick feeling that we wont be coming back." I sobbed. "Jace doesn't believe me."

"Well screw Jace!" She rolled her eyes. "He's always all wall, no talk." I looked at her skeptically, but with amazement. "That's… a very good way of putting it." We both giggled, but then sadness overtook Izzy's face.

"I don't want you to go!" She said while hugging me again. We both cried on each others shoulder, Max stepped up besides us and wrapped his arms around both of us, we hugged him back. When I pulled away I wiped the tears from my eyes and turned around to grab my portfolio.

"I want you to do me a _huge_ favor, take very good care of these for me, keep them safe!" Izzy looked at me with shock.

"You're not taking these with you?"

"I can't…" my voice cracked. "My mom said to take only what we can carry." Izzy looked at me her eyes still teary.

"I promise I'll keep these safe, even if I never see you again… but…" She paused looking down at my portfolio and gently taking it from me.

"What's going on? Why are you guys leaving… _like this_?" I swallowed, feeling that lump in my throat rise up to the surface. I've always hated that lump, it is so painful. Probably from the fact that you're holding it back. When she asked me why we were leaving, the memories of the night before played back through my mind. The odd conversation, our father's violent acts towards us and our mother. The twins looking mortified. My life shattering before my eyes

"I think our father is dangerous," I said with a shaky voice. "and mom wants us to get away from him and fast."

"By the Angel!" Izzy gasped. "Do you have any idea on what's gonna happen? Where you're gonna go? Where you'll stay?"

I shook my head "Not even where we're going," I looked down at Max who was staring back with sad eyes; I smiled a sad small smile, and directed him to the other end of the tree house.

"You know all those Mundane manga books I collected?" He nodded. "I'm giving them to you."

"Really!" he smiled hugely. I nodded as he darted for the shelf with all of those books and started looking through them.

"You don't have to do that, Clary." Izzy said softly.

"Yea I do. I know he'll take good care of them." Izzy shook her head slowly as more tears fell form her eyes.

"I am so scared for you!" She sobbed. "Are you sure you wont be back?"

"I don't know, all I know is I have this feeling that it wont be a thing where our mom goes back for our things tomorrow, telling him it's over." I looked down at my feet, taking in the detail of the wood floor, all the cracks and the stains. "We wont be back once our parents are divorced and everything is settled down, I just have a feeling that things are much worse than they seem." I finally looked back up into my friends watering blue eyes. The tears made them beautiful, like tiny shards of crystals circled her irises, creating glowing sparkly.

"You will always be my best friend, Clary. No matter what!" She pulled me into another hug, and I wished I could just stay here, forever.

**AITA*FITA*AITA*FITA*AITA*FITA**

"Where have you been?" Jace nearly shrieked in my face. "I went looking everywhere for you!"

"Well, if you knew me at all," I was so angry with him, that I was sure that steam was rising off the top of my head. "You would've checked the tree house!" I watched as I saw Jace's face contorted to an obvious look of feeling stupid. He brought his hand up and smacked his forehead.

"That should've been the first place I looked." He said softly, obviously feeling guilty.

"Why didn't you?" My voice was still harsh, but I wasn't angry with _him_ I was angry about everything. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay in this house, in my room, with all of my toys and personal things. I just wanted our father gone, or to get better. Either one would have worked for me.

"I don't know, Clary." He sounded frustrated with me, or maybe the better expression would be that he looked tired. "I was panicking, I thought you had run away."

"Well, I didn't." I said shortly, but then the thought came to my head. What if I had ran away? What would happen to the twins? And mostly, Jace? I loved Jace so much and even now I couldn't picture a life without my brother. I wanted the four of us to stick together always!

I looked up at him, my voice softening, and wetness stirring around my eyes. "I would never leave you guys." My voice sounded scratchy, but this time I didn't hold in my emotions. "I couldn't" I said, while looking down at my feet. I felt Jace wrap his warm arms around me, like a blanket they have always kept me warm.

"I know, and I'm sorry for thinking it." He said in my ear. "I'm sorry for not being sensitive. I know you care about your drawings." He said while pulling away to look at me, with his hands on my shoulders firmly.

"Don't worry about it, Jace." I said softly. "You're just being-"

"An ass." He interrupted me with a smile. I couldn't help but giggle. He laughed and lightly touched my nose with his index finger. "See, I made you smile." Then he smirked his genuine smirk. Everything about him was beautiful.

Then suddenly our peaceful moment was interrupted. The front door swung open, letting in the sunlight, so much that we could not see the large dark figure that darked in our doorway…

* * *

**I am so sorry, for those who have been waiting! I don't know why, But I decided to change this story out of nowhere, and all it did was confuse me and give me writer's block. I went through days weeks, months trying to sit through and figure out the whole story before I finally was like, "Screw it" and put it back the way it was originally. I don't know why I even did it in the first place, it was dumb. Then I finally moved into my new place, and me and my boyfriend broke up - Don't worry, it wasn't heart breaking, just mutual. And to be honest it feels really good to be single, now I can have fun *Wiggles eyebrows* lol. I'm a bad girl. *Clears throat* anyways, With work, school, and blah blah I get kind of slowed down with writing. So I can't promise a scheduled update all the time. Which I think I already posted that in like the first chapter, but I wanted to remind everyone. A.K.A College sucks. Nah jk. College is good, don't listen to me. lol But now the new chap is here and I hoped you guys enjoyed it, because the attic is coming up soon. So big thanks to my Beta ClaryxJace for sticking by me even though it's been forever since I've updated, thanks you're awesome! =) (About a million and one smiley faces)**

**Also I started writing another story, it's just a quick short story, so I'm not using a Beta on it. It should only be like 3 to 5 chapters long. I just felt like writing something else to get over my writer's block, and I think it helped. It's just a cute little thing about Clary and Jace not a huge serious plot or anything, but go check it out. I would love it! Thanks again guys, I've had loads of faves and alerts on this, it makes me feel proud! =)**

**~Scrotie**


	8. VIII Fairchild Hall

**Hellooooo, finally updating this story. Yes I know, it's been a million years. You can thank my stupid hard drive, work, school, and stupid days off that I just want to sleep through. So yes, I guess I am admitting that part of it was laziness, but what can I say, I technically work all the time, so when I do get time to myself, I either sleep, or watch TV, then sleep. Cause I am so damn tired all the time.**

**Okay, I figured I'd answer some questions on here, ones I haven't gotten a chance to answer. Some asked, some who are possibly thinking of asking. So if you want answers.**

**~*~*~PLEASE READ~*~*~**

**1) Yes, I will do the other books (If) this one is successful (Which it is, Thank You!) However, I am thinking of only doing the second book after this 'Petals In The Wind.' I have to somehow think of a new title for that one. I think it'll take way too long to do all five books. =/ Sorry. I mean I am not saying that maybe one day I'll get the urge to do it, but I doubt it. If anything I'll skip them all and head straight for the Prequel; 'Garden Of Shadows' but still not likely.**

**2) Yes, I will try and fit all characters from TMI into this story. That means Simon, Magnus, Sebastian, Aline, Kaelie, and then some more of my own. **

**3) Will Paul be in this? Yes, as a TMI character, can you predict which one? NO not Luke, just for the record! **

**4) Yes, unfortunately this WILL traumatize Jace and Clary for the rest of their lives. You will soon see. It is a truly very sad story… ='(**

**5) To the Jace is bipolar review. Hahahaha. I love it! But I also want to explain why he is like that. In this story I am trying to bring out Chris and Cathy's personalities out of Jace and Clary's. So yes they are a little out of character, but not fully. Cathy was very into wearing pretty dresses, and wanted to be a ballet dancer. She was blonde, and perfect in everyway (like a doll) Clary is, of course, red headed, an artist, a ton-boy, and you would never catch her dead in a tutu, and yet still gorgeous. Yet they both are very selfish, speak their minds even when they shouldn't, reckless, and are a little high maintenance in their own way. Like in this chapter when Clary wants hot chocolate. Chris and Jace aren't as different from each other as Cathy and Clary. Both Jace and Chris are very intelligent, good looking, and quick with words. For Chris everything has to have a scientific explanation, whereas that doesn't work for Jace since he's a demon hunter and all. Chris is always so optimistic, where Jace can seem pretty negative. Chris wants to be a doctor, Jace is a warrior. Chris is more modest about his looks, and Jace most certainly isn't. I am trying to mix together the similarities as well as the differences. Chris was kind of bipolar… the way you see it. Lol. He would go from thinking Cathy is right, to completely dissing her the next. Chris had mixed feelings about their mother where Cathy figured it out right away… don't take that as a clue for this story. I am trying to make it my own; so therefore, it won't always have the same conclusions as the original story. You'll see…**

**6) Are Jace and Clary really related in this story? Unfortunately, yes. Before you throw stuff at me I am NOT a shipper for Simon and Clary, or Clary and OC. I have had this idea ever since I read City Of Bones. CC tortured the hell out of us with Clary and Jace being related, and their constant struggle in ignoring their love for one another. Also I had a whole bunch of people tell me that it was incredibly gross that CC made Jace and Clary still have make out sessions, and nearly had sex outside the Manor. And I seriously couldn't help but laugh, because the Incest in 'Flowers In The Attic' is a million times worse, and yet you aren't grossed out by Chris and Cathy. You support them as you read more of their story. **

**If you haven't read 'Flowers In The Attic' I highly suggest it. It was a story that disturbed the hell out of me when I first read it when I was like 14. I think. But I fell in love with it! I loved the push and pull of Chris and Cathy's incestuous desires, and I guess that is what drew me deeper into The Mortal Instruments as well. I understand why some were disturbed by Jace and Clary, but I guess not everyone has read Flowers In The Attic. So here is a TMI version of that story, after you are all done reading this you will go back and wonder why you ever thought that the incest between Jace and Clary was gross to begin with. **

**Now on with the story…**

**VIII. Fairchild Hall**

Our mother came rushing into our house noticing the luggage we had ready for her, her face pale with fear, and eyes had dark circles. I was somewhat frightened by her. Her current state only proved my assumptions to be more true. I felt Jace's hand suddenly in mine; obviously he was feeling the same as I.

"Do you have everything?" She asked, her voice sounding rushed.

"Yes, mother." Jace answered when I only nodded. She nodded furiously, looking around.

"Go get the twins, we're leaving!" She snapped, I jumped a bit in the spot that I stood in. Jace's hand squeezed mine, when he felt my sudden spurt. "Yes, Mother." Jace replied while pulling me to the backyard to pick up our siblings.

"Clary? You done fighting with Jace?" Cara asked from the sandbox. She held a pale full of sand in her hands, placing it inside Jamie's pick-up truck.

"_Are_ you done fighting?" Jace corrected her. "C'mon guys we have to go."

"Go were?" Jamie asked. Jace walked up to him, and pulled him out of the sandbox. Sand clung to his legs and shorts, as Jace had him cling onto his hip.

"Momma's orders." I said as I grabbed Cara. "Oh, Cara, you got dirt all over your pretty clean dress."

"But you said to go outside and plaaaayy!" She whined.

"Cara." I said sounding tired, and not ready for one of her tantrums.

"No!" She shrieked. "I wanna play in the sandboooox!"

"CARA! ENOUGH!" Jace shouted at her. Cara closed her big mouth with a pop, and turned to glare at Jace with her most evil pout. "Now, listen to Clary and come with us!"

I grabbed her little hand and practically dragged her in the house, when I arrived right behind Jace, momma was grasping four bags, two of which are hers, and the other two were ours.

"Lets go!" She jerked her head to the front door, and walked out, us following her trail.

"Where's daddy?" Cara asked.

"Daddy's gone!" Momma snapped, without turning her head.

"Gone! Gone where!" Cara whined again.

"Caroline Anna Morgenstern!" Our mother turned swiftly, her eyes set on Cara like pray. Again I had a shudder run down my spine. "You will listen to me, and your older siblings, and be quiet the rest of the trip! No more questions, just walk!"

I looked down at Cara, and saw tears glisten in her eyes, before she started to sob. Why was it that little girls looked cute even when sad? She started to talk nonsense; the only word that was clear was "Momma."

Momma turned around, her face softer than before. When she saw the look on her child's face, and the pain she caused, her face dropped. She put down the suitcases, and knelt down to Cara's eye level, bringing her into an embrace.

"Oh darling," She cooed, while Cara still sobbed. "I'm sorry, momma's just stressed. She didn't mean to be so harsh. Everything will be all right. I promise."

We walked for hours, leaving the city of Alicante, and into the outskirts. Momma said it was safer. The twins eventually became fussy and tired, and we had to carry them. My arms hurt so much by the time we reached the border.

Cara may be light when you are only holding her for a few minutes, or even an hour, but more than that, and she begins to gain weight.

I could see the edge of the forest just ahead and the sun had finally gone to rest at this point, I was hoping that soon we could rest, or find a ride, but as we approached closer, I noticed a hooded person waiting under a tree. Was he dangerous? I became a little nervous; I looked over at Jace to see if he had spot the same figure. He looked at me then looked in the direction of the hooded stranger. Yea, he noticed. I saw him take his free hand, and reach for his blade, holding Jamie tighter in his one arm. He was always strong; I couldn't hold Cara with only one arm.

Our mother approached the stranger without any hesitation, I felt a little better, but Jace didn't; he kept his hand tight on the handle of his blade, but didn't name it yet. He was probably waiting for the right moment.

"So you've made it this far?" I heard the stranger chuckle. He sounded young, with some kind of accent, nothing foreign, but odd.

"Yes," Our mother put down the luggage. "And your pay." She took out her hand from her coat pocket, and handed him something that I could not see.

"Thank you!" Although I couldn't see the man's face, I could tell he was smiling. "This will do me wonders…" He paused, and looked up at momma. "Why is it that I have the feeling you want something else?"

"I need you to deliver a message to Luke Garroway." Momma replied.

"And what's in it for me?" He brought a hand inside his hood, probably rubbing his chin, or tapping his temple as a gesture. Momma stuck her hand back in her coat pocket, and pulled out something that looked like it was in a vile. He took it from her, and opened the top; I couldn't tell if he smelled it, or took a sip of what was inside, but when he was done, he looked at our mother again. I could sense he was in shock.

"Where did you come across this?"

"My husband is a very guilty man." Was her answer. "I'm sure it could be of use to you."

"These are your children?" his gaze fell on us. "They are beautiful. Like porcelain dolls… such a waste."

Hey!

So we were beautiful, but what made us wasteful? The fact that we were born? Or maybe he was ugly, that's why he wore the hood. Maybe he was jealous of the beautiful? Either way, I was insulted.

I was so young back then, therefore naïve. I never thought that the statement could have been taken another way.

"Very well." The stranger continued. "I will now open you a portal." A Warlock, that's what he was. No one can just open a portal anywhere. Only Warlocks.

I tried to watch how he did it, but momma turned to face us; looking at us with a clean stern expression in her eyes.

"Children, after we pass through the portal, we will be in a train station in London. We will take a train to Cheshire."

"Why Cheshire?" Jace asked momma.

"I have family out there. That's where we'll stay until we can contact Luke."

"Are we going to live with him?" I couldn't help but ask. I love Luke, and I've been wanting us to runaway with him for some time now. And it was finally happening! I was finally going to be happy again.

"Yes." She said softly. "Of course, he's very secretive about where he lives, so we have to make obstacles in order to find him."

I looked over at Jace, whose brow was creased; he looked at me, and shook his head. I mouthed 'what?' to him, but he just shook his head again. Momma bent down to grab our luggage, and that's when we entered the portal.

I hated portals. I almost dropped Cara on the other side. Both twins woke with wales of cries, from the sudden noise of urban London, and the impact from the landing.

"Sh sh sh" I shushed Cara, while running my fingers through her curly red hair. I held her close, and rocked her while she slowly calmed down, while Jace did the same thing with Jamie.

"Are they okay?" Momma asked.

We both nodded.

"Okay," she let out a breath, as if she just ran for miles. "There's our train, hurry, we don't want to miss it."

We rushed over to our train, handing the conductor our luggage. Surprisingly our mother had tickets for all of us. I was left confused as to how she acclaimed all of this so fast, but I chose to brush it off.

After finding our compartment, I couldn't wait to lay my head down and fall asleep. Jace and I set down Cara and Jamie, and they both leaned against each other falling asleep almost instantly. I sat down next to them putting my feet up on the seat across from me, next to Jace.

Momma placed a blanket over Cara and Jamie, and then looked at us.

"I'm going to get them some milk, want anything, dears?"

Jace said no, but I was dying for some hot chocolate. For some odd reason Jace shot a glare at me, again I mouthed 'what?' to him.

"Okay, very well." Momma nodded. "I know things seem scary, children. But I promise you things will get better soon." And like that she slid open the door and left us. The first thing I did was look over at Jace, and kicked his thigh with my foot. Not hard enough to cause pain, but enough to show I was annoyed.

"What's up with you?" I asked him.

"What up with _you_? And keep your voice down, the twins are sleeping!" He shoved my foot off his lap. I lowered my voice, before going back at him. He may be a jerk, but he was right about the twins, about Cara at least. Lord knows that she wails like a siren when she's disturbed from her sleep.

"What do you mean _me_?"

"Ordering hot chocolate." He scowled. "Being so naïve, why must you be so naïve, Clary!"

"What!" I almost yelled, but caught myself. "What are you talking about, Jace?"

"First of all the last time I checked momma didn't have any family. She and daddy told us they were dead!"

"Oh my God." He was right, I _was_ naïve. I completely forgot about momma's parents being dead, and apparently she had no brothers and sisters. Who was this family? Had she been lying to us?

"But what the heck has that got anything to do with me wanting hot chocolate. Jonathon Christopher!"

"Don't call me that!" His hands clenched into fists while they rest on his knees. "Just _you_ Clary! Thinking of hot chocolate at a time like this!"

"Well, sor-ry!" I mused. "Sorry, for wanting a little treat after carrying an eighty pound child for over two hours!" I folded my arms over my chest, and looked out the window, seeing nothing but darkness.

"She's not eighty pounds, Clary. You're exaggerating." He scoffed.

"Whatever."

We were quiet for some time, before I heard Jace sigh.

"Clary, I'm sorry." I didn't answer him, just continued to lay back and stare out the window, still seeing nothing, not even grass or dirt. Just pitch black.

"I'm just…" Jace continued even though I was pretending to ignore him. "I'm just scared, Clary."

"You?" I finally looked at him. "You think I'm not scared? Or the twins?"

"Clary, I didn't mean that. I'm sure it's just nerves. Everything will be all right. You'll see."

I shrugged and turned my gaze out the window, my eyes became heavy and I was close to falling asleep, when the door slid opened.

"Oh." Momma smiled at me. "I almost thought you were asleep. I'm surprised you both aren't out cold." She giggled lightly. "Still want your cocoa, Clary?"

"Yes!" I sat up quickly, taking it from her. I blew at the steam that rose from it to my face, and took a sip. Boy, was it good. Not as good as momma's but it was pretty delicious. Momma took a seat next to Jace, letting exhaustion settle in.

"The two of you should get some sleep, because I'm afraid when we reach our stop, we have to walk again." She looked at us with all of the sympathy in the world.

_Again?_

I had to resist the urge to groan, but soon I fell into a deep sleep.

_It was hot, burning everywhere. _

_I saw dark shadows, taunting evil dark shadows._

_I saw Jace screaming in pain. His howls and cries not only sounding pained, but tormented. Like he lost something very dear to him._

_I looked up and saw Cara trying to speak to me, but nothing came out of her throat._

_She looked as though she was trying to sing, but nothing came. She cried from the silence. I cried for her silence._

_It was a cold day in hell if Cara couldn't use her voice._

_Then I saw Jamie. He was wrapped in a green blanket, and looked ill. _

"_I must leave, momma." Why was he calling me momma?_

_Then something appeared in front of me, in between my little brother and I._

_A beast, a demon. He grinned devilishly down at me. _

"_You will burn for your sins!" He growled his hot breath into my face._

"Clary! Clary! Wake up, we have to get off."

I woke from my dark dream to see Jace's beautiful golden eyes staring back. I jumped in his arms and clung to him tightly.

"Oh Clary? What's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare, I dreamt were all in hell, and we were burning… burning Jace!" Jace held me tighter, I felt warmer in his hold.

"Oh Clary. We aren't going to burn in hell. As long we behave of course." Jace chuckled. "It was only a dream Clarissa." He pulled back and smiled at me. "Only a dream."

He was right, but it still gave me an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. We each picked up a twin, and began carrying them again. We exited the train, and stood in darkness.

"We have to walk up that hill, and we'll be there. Hang on children, it wont be long."

We followed momma up the hill while she carried our luggage. After some time my arms could no long bear the wait of Cara, and I slowed down my pace, Jace seeing this slowed down his pace as well to keep up with me.

"Mother," Jace called out. "We need to slow down, Clary's tired."

Momma dropped the suitcases and turned to us with a hard look on her face.

"Wake the twins." She snapped.

"What?" Jace replied.

"Wake the twins! Stand them on their feet, and make them walk. Lord knows they should walk outside while they can."

What did she mean by that? That uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach was only becoming worse, but we both did what she said. They both fussed and whined about walking, but my arms were feeling relieved, so I ignored Cara's cries of demanding to pick her back up.

"Where are we? We want to go home!" She whined, but I ignored her. Not because I was angry or upset, just tired, and I wanted to sleep in a bed inside a house. The faster we got to momma's 'supposedly dead family's house' the better.

It took forever before I could even see anything. It was pitch black outside, no moon shown tonight, and it always created an eerie feeling. Like _anything_ could jump out at us, and in _our_ world anything could. And I know I was supposed to be a young Shadowhunter, but I was frightened. We were unprepared for anything at this moment. We carried a blade each, but no more than that. Jace was more experienced than I was; therefore Cara and I are goners if we were attacked.

I looked up into the sky, seeing the only sparkle in the darkness. The stars shown brightly, and sparked the many different colors that you could barely see. But why did they seem to look down on me with such pity, and despair tonight? Soon we came to a group of nice homes settled on hills, some big, some… I guess you can say semi-small, because they really weren't tiny. These homes belonged to families who had money, mountains of it. I turned my head forward to see that we were heading towards the largest house.

"Are there any lakes to ice skate or go swimming in around here?" Jace asked, I looked to see that his attention was on the hills not far in the distance.

"Yes, but I'm afraid not much swimming goes on. Not that I am saying you couldn't, but people much rather go to town, in the public pool." Momma replied, and then pointed in the direction of the hills Jace's gaze was so interested in. "Just that way, not too far from here."

"Where are we going!" Cara cried. "I wanna go home, let me go, Clary, let me go!" She wailed as she pulled from my grasp, but I held on tightly.

"Cara, that's enough!" Momma's voice was hard, but tired. "We will be there very soon, now listen to your sister."

Big sister is too tired to argue with little sister. I thought to myself. I just ignored Cara's cries and held her hand more tightly. I could hear Jamie whining quietly to himself at Jace's side.

Soon we were in some kind of garden, a beautiful garden, with large statues of angels, high hedges, and many rose bushes. The statues frightened me some. It seemed as though they were watching me. Wasn't it that Angels were supposed to make you feel safe? Well, these didn't feel like Angel statues that were looking at us, but statues of demons, eyeing us, laughing at us… watching us. We approached the door to the giant fortress. I felt overwhelmed, momma had a rich family, and she never even told us? I could hear mom barely whisper that this place was called Fairchild Hall.

An older man wearing a tux opened the door; he was bald with the exception of hair on the side and back of his head. He looked angry, evil. I didn't like him very much.

"Hello, George." Momma said.

"Please. Enter." He spoke without life in his voice, and stood aside for us. When we were inside, I saw large staircases, marble pillars, granite floors, and high ceilings. Where were we? I never knew houses could be so huge. It was a mansion. In the oddest place. Why?

Why here?

Why now?

Then someone came into view, a tall women with her hair pulled back tight in a bun. She wore a long ugly gray dress. It had sleeves, with lace on the cuffs, and a high collar covering most of her neck. Her face was hard, as if to make expressions were impossible for her. Her eyes were black, and lips thin. You can tell that she wasn't very attractive when she was younger. Nothing about her was soft and yielding.

"Jocelyn?" The women spoke tightly, as if her throat closed in from our mother's name.

"Mother."

_Mother_?

But momma had said that her parents had died a long time ago. She had lied to us, all this time. The old women gestured us to follow, so we did. Through a back staircase and up. We went down many halls, swiftly and silently. Not even giving us the chance to look at the great rooms that this fortress held. We went past many rooms without getting a glance, and many closed doors, many wings, turns and corners, before finally coming to a room in the end. She opened it, and gestured for us to enter. We went straight in to see a room with heavy tapestries, and draperies covering two tall windows, one lamp light was lit in between two beds. The beds had light blue comforters over them, made perfectly. It was a relief to know that our long journey had come to an end… or so I thought.

The _Grandmother_ turned to look us over as she closed the door behind her. She spoke, and I was jolted.

"I assume these are your children?"

Momma put her arms around us, almost as if it were to protect us. That only made me more nervous about our situation.

"Yes, these are my children. Jonathan, Clarissa, Caroline, and James-"

"I could care less about the names of your _children_, Jocelyn!" The old women snapped. I took a step back, I wanted to turn around and run, but the fact that my siblings didn't make the steps to do the same made me stay put. I would never leave them. I will stick by them, just like Luke had said.

Her eyes searched our faces, as if to study something. I felt almost violated by her stare. I wanted to look away, but my stubborn attitude kept my eyes forward. Watching the _grandmother_ watch us.

"They _look_ normal." She spoke again.

"Yes mother." Momma held tighter. "As you can see, they do not have tails, horns, or webbed feet. They are perfectly normal children!" Momma defended us. I didn't understand, why were we staying in a place were we are obviously not wanted? "Jonathon is very intelligent, has read every book that's ever been published. Clarissa is a beautiful artist, Jamie makes music, and Cara has a beautiful voice for a five year old. They are _wonderful_ children!"

The _Grandmother_ stood stiff as a board; it made me wonder if her legs were made of wood, if her whole body was. Even her walk showed no emotion, everything about her seemed soulless

"How long, Jocelyn?"

"Only until I can find a friend, and then we will leave forever, never dark on your doorstep again!" Momma's voice was strong.

"You're father-"

"Will never have to know!" Momma interrupted. "Of all things, mother! You owe me my safety, even the safety of my children. You are my mother, whether you care for me or not!"

"If you stay here, they _must_ be hidden!" The _grandmother _raised her voice higher, and yet it still seemed quiet. This house held a feeling that gave me the chills. A feeling of sadness, torment, anger. Almost as if it were haunted. Why did we have to stay here?

"Hidden? They're children-"

"Your father is very ill, beyond repair! I cannot have a bunch loud obnoxious children running about through the halls of this house, especially _your_ children, Jocelyn!" She looked at momma hard, not once looking at us again. Momma put her head down; she looked like she was thinking.

"Fine, then block off the entire west wing, and they can play in that area of the house."

"Out of the question!" The _grandmother_ snapped. "I have servants who clean, who will become suspicious. They will hear every noise they make, they hate me you see. They love your father. They will go running to him with any kind of information hoping he will reward them. They will stay in this bedroom!"

"But mother-" Momma tried, but the _grandmother_ talked over her, her voice rising a bit more.

"The servants know that I keep this room locked at all times! Even for cleaning. They know this room is one of the leading ways into the attic, and I do not want them snooping in places they have no business in. They will stay in this room!"

Momma put her head down again, but only in defeat. She took her arms off of our shoulders and looked back up at her mother with a straight face, more of a straight face that held all the struggles in the world.

"Okay, but how will they eat?"

"I will bring them a meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the kitchen. The door will remain locked at all times, except for your visits, and my meal times. Understood?"

"Yes mother."

Wait we were going to be locked in a room? I thought as I started to undress Cara, who was nodding on her feet. I knelt down to Jamie to unbutton his coat, as Jace put one of our suitcases onto one of the big beds, he searched through it, and pulled out two yellow pajamas with feet. We began dressing our twins in their nightclothes, both of them rubbing their eyes, and yawning.

Momma picked them up and lied them down on one of the big beds, the one closest to the door. They curled into each other falling asleep almost immediately. "Goodnight my darlings." Momma whispered to them before kissing them both on the head. The two of them not hearing her, for they were in deep sleep.

"Your two older children cannot sleep in the same bed, Jocelyn."

"They're only children!" Momma argued as she placed the suitcase neatly besides the bed. "Mother, you haven't changed have you?" She looked up at the grandmother. "Jonathon and Clary are innocent!"

"Innocent?" She shot back, her face and voice becoming so sharp it could cut glass. "That's exactly what your father and I presumed about you and your half uncle!"

My mouth dropped as I looked back and forth from both of them. I looked over at Jace, who seemed to have the years melt away from him. He stood there looking as vulnerable and scared as a six-year-old little boy. Not anymore comprehending in the situation as I.

A tempest of hot anger made the color from our mother's skin depart. "If you feel that way, then make them sleep in separate beds, in separate rooms, Lord knows this house has enough of them!"

"That is impossible!" The grandmother shouted. "This is the only bedroom with its own adjoining bath, and where my husband wont hear them walking overhead, or flushing the toilet. If they are separated, and scattered about all over upstairs, he will hear their voices, or their noise, or the servants will. Now, I have given this arrangement a great deal of thought. This is the only safe room."

We were going to stay in one room? Four of us in one room? In such a lecherous house where there were forty, maybe fifty rooms, and we had to stay in _one_? Even so, I gave it a thought and I really didn't want to be in a room alone in such an overwhelming, unwelcoming house.

"Put two girls in one bed, and the boys in the other!" Momma coincided, and picked up Cara and put her in the other big bed. Cara and I had the bed closest to the windows, while Jace and Jamie had the one closest to the bathroom. The old ugly women turned her gaze onto me, and then onto Jace. "You." She spoke through ice. "Hear this. You both will be responsible for keeping the younger ones quiet! You will be responsible if they break even one of the rules I lay out. Keep this always in your minds: If your grandfather learns too soon of your presence he will throw you out of here without one red penny- _After_ he severely punishes you for being alive! And you will keep this room clean, neat, tidy, and the bathroom too, just as if no one lived here. And you will be quiet; you will not yell, or cry, or run about to pound on the ceilings below. When your mother, and I leave this room tonight, I will lock this door behind me, for I will not have you roaming room to room and into other sections of this house. Until the day your grandfather dies, you are here, but you don't really exist!"

Oh dear Angel! We were living in a house of the Devil himself. I stood closer to Jace, tucking deep into his side. When the grandmother scowled, I backed away from him. I looked over at momma who looked back at me with all the love, sympathy, worry… everything was writing on her face. I was scared, why couldn't we stay somewhere else. Why here? We were hated here! She put her arms out to us, and we both rushed in her tight hold.

"Please, children. Don't worry. I am sorry for all of this, but it's only the safest way. I must hide you, even in such a place as this. Your father was involved in horrible things. Things that will take too long for me to explain now, but don't worry, I am going to find Luke, and we will go stay with him, where we will be welcomed, well loved and safe. I promise. As soon as I get word, we're gone. Understand."

We both nodded vigorously. Whimpering in her arms. Momma looked up at the grandmother with pleading eyes. "Mother, please, at least let them travel to my room, they need me."

"You may come in here in the morning, but for now it is out of the question. We will _not_ be having these children running wild. I make the rules here, not you!" I heard momma sniff, she nodded, and then pulled us back to make eye contact with us.

"I will be thinking of you all night, say your prayers, and please, for your own sake and your baby siblings, behave." We nodded and promised we'd be on our best behavior. Momma left with the grandmother, blowing us a sad kiss in her tracks, we heard the door shut, and click sound of the grandmother locking us in.

The both of us got ready for bed, brushing our teeth, taking our baths and getting dressed in our pajamas. Thank God this was a temporary thing, or else we'd have to share one bathroom for God knows how long. It shouldn't take momma long to find Luke…. Right?

"It wont be so bad." Jace said softly. "I'm sure that ugly old women cannot be as mean as she seems."

"You mean to tell me you didn't think she was a sweet old lady?" I scoffed.

He chuckled a bit. "Yea, sweat as a ravanaw demon."

"She's darn tall." I said as I tucked myself in next to Cara. "How big you think she is?"

Jace laughed. "That's hard to tell, probably six feet, over two-hundred pounds."

"Seven feet, five hundred pounds!" I said a loud, while laughing.

"Clary, one thing you have got to stop doing is exaggerating. Stop making small things into big things. This is just a room, just a house. Not at all frightening. Before you know it, mother will find out where Luke is, and we'll be going." He turned off the light in between us, leaving us only in darkness.

"Jace…"

"Yes…"

"You heard what the grandmother said about the half uncle thing, right? What do you think she meant?"

"I'm not sure, but I am sure mother will explain everything once she gets the chance." I heard him sigh deeply, more of a sigh of exhaustion. "Now go to sleep, and say a prayer, that's about all we can do."

He was right, and I put my two hands together, not caring if he heard me. I said it in the darkness, hoping God would hear.

"Please, let us come out of this okay, let momma find Luke, and then we can go back to being a family. Amen…."

* * *

**Again, I just wanted to remind everyone, that even though this is mainly based on Flowers In The Attic, I am trying to mix together the TMI plot, along with FITA. So not everything will conclude the same. You'll see.**

**I just want to thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Both honest, and just plain 'update soon' are welcome! =D I love you all.**

**And I also want to say thank you to my BETA ClaryxJace for sticking with me. Because I take this story seriously, it takes longer to update. But I am very confident about it.**

**Again, thank you... thank you all!**

**3 Scrotie McBoogerballs =P**


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